chrischarles

Hi there - I've just started to work out seriously again for the last 3 months, with the goal in mind to really BULK up my upper body.

When I started, I was almost 190 lbs, with LOTS of body fat, and whereas I and others are already seeing the results, I am concerned about the high amount of weight loss and what I feel is not enough muscle gain. It might be me being impatient, but I can’t help feeling that I am doing something wrong, preventing me from seeing the true potential gains.

I am working out 4 to 5 days a week for about 60 minutes each session, doing high-to-low reps (10-8-6) while increasing weight, plus another 20 to 30 mins of cardio at end of weight session (not sure how good this is, but topic for another thread). During the sessions, I do ALL of my target muscle exercises, just alternating the ORDER in which I do them from day to day.


At 170 lbs, even thought the bulk is starting to show, I am concerned about the dramatic weight loss (have not been this weight since high-school), when I am trying to bulk up, and therefore shouldn't my weight be in fact, increasing?

I've read in several STICKIES in this forum and various other posts that in reality, I should be going 2 to 3 days per week to the gym, but I find when I do that, my strength capabilities are diminished instead of in fact watching my lift capabilities grow with time (I have seen about a 20% increase in weight capabilities since I started).

Some people suggest a FULL 24 - 48 hours to rest for the muscle group that you have completed working out, but I find that I can target ALL the groups in my goal within the 60 - 90 minutes that I allocate myself.
Is working out the same groups for 4 to 5 days straight (if I am able to take it) really that bad for bulking up?


As for the cardio - where I'm trying to also strengthen my heart and increase my heart rate, is this COUNTER-PRODUCTIVE if I am really trying to BULK up (20 - 30 mins on elliptical at 3/4 of MAX resistance)?


I appreciate ANY feedback if you think I’m doing something wrong here as a “newbie”.

Thanks

BigMac

Hi Chris, welcome to the lair

What's your diet like, are you getting enough calories (carbs, fats and protein) throughout the day? Being 6'0, and 170lbs, you're probably going to have to aim towards 3500 calories a day (obviously this will depend on your activity throughout the day in your day job, so if you were working in a manual day job, you'd want to aim for 4000ish calories a day).

The most important thing when trying to put on size is your diet. It's important to make sure you're doing the best you can to keep that in mind and in line. Whilst it can be tough when you have children or other life commitments, I've found prior preperation to be a big key factor in keeping your daily calories consistent - consistency is key.

After a workout your body is crying out for nutrients for a good 12 hour period, so when you wake up in the morning, after a long 8 our stint you need to make sure you're feeding your body. Waking up to a big breakfast is a great thing to do, plenty of eggs, a protein shake and porridge is a good place to start.

As for the cardio, I would recommend cutting it down if you can. Usually when bulking people try to do no more than 10 to 15 minutes cardio at the end of their workout (if any cardio at all!). Bulking is all about using those calories to build muscle, rather than burn them on cardio.

From personal experience, the best thing to do when bulking is get used to the idea that you're going to put a bit of fat on - it's impossible to gain substantial muscle mass and lose fat at the same time, as building muscle requires extra calories, where as burning fat requires burning calories.

If you do a clean bulk (a clean bulk is natural wholesome foods, where as a dirty bulk is pizza, buns etc) and keep your calories under control then you're able to reduce the amount of body fat you put on whilst bulking, so you don't end up looking too chubby - it's just a case of monitoring your weight and body fat, then reducing/increasing your calorie intake accordingly.

As for working out 4-5 days straight, this isn't a bad thing to do - providing you get enough rest. When you lift weights, your tearing muscle tissue and besides protein, your body also needs rest in order to rebuild the damaged muscle tissue, this is where it's important to get a very good night sleep (8 hours at least).

What's your workout routine like anyway? Are you doing a full body workout or splitting it up into body parts of the course of the week?

chrischarles

Hi BigMac - thanks for the insightful info

To asnwer a couple of your questions - Here is my daily calorie intake

I rotate on different types of Chili recipes that I've found:

and various types of Burrito recipes that I've also found:


FIVE (5) times per day.
This is the limit of my nutritional intake, excluding the shakes.

I WAS only taking 1 shake per day (right after my workout) but people are telling me (such as yourself) with my current status, I should be taking a shake in the morning, PRE-workout and also POST-workout.


I don't think I'm going to have any problems cutting out my cardio all together and focus on weight training.



My routine consisted of basically doing ALL upper body excersices for about 60 - 75 mins, 4 to 5 times a week. This was a mix of cable, machine and free weights targeting the delts, pecs, biceps, forearms, and triceps.
Add to this doing my abs EVERY night (Mon - Thur) before going to bed.

I've been told that it's not a good thing to do all these muscle groups EACH day, but better to focus on one or two groups, and come back to them, maybe 24 - 48 hours later. So basically, once per week.

Jojomofoman

Wow, strong first reply Mac

Cutting the cardio down from what you're currently doing is a good idea, like Mac said, generally 10 - 15 mins is ideal when bulking.

As for your diet, it's probably a good idea to try get alittle variation in there! What do you have for breakfast/postworkout?

Regarding the protein shakes, the most important time to have them is morning and post workout. If you can afford to have one pre workout then great, but generally protein from natural sources will do just fine.

The reason i say morning and post workout is because first thing in the morning your body has been starved of amino acids and throughout the night will begin to break down muscle tissue - so a shake first thing in the morning along with a good solid breakfast turns your body from a catabolic state into a metabolic state.

A post workout shake is a must! along with some good clean carbs as after a workout your body is craving for amino acids (found in protein) to repair the damaged muscle tissue.

As for your workout, I would suggest switching from a full body workout and doing one or two body parts a session (if your schedule allows), also incorporating squats and dead lifts too (full body exercises like squats/deadlifts have been proven to cause the body to release more testosterone, which is responsible for muscle growth).

Hope this helps!

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